The present invention relates generally to air fresheners and in particular to a new and useful decorative air freshener and method for manufacturing the air freshener.
Display articles containing solid objects in a translucent material are known. Snow globes are commonly sold as souvenirs. These snow globes usually have a scene, or object, contained in a spherical enclosure of clear glass or plastic mounted on a flat-bottomed base. The object is surrounded by water or other non-volatile clear liquid. It is also common to have a plurality of small white "flakes" of material in the enclosure, so that when the globe is shaken, the flakes are mixed in the liquid and give the appearance of snow falling on the scene in the enclosure.
Other types of display articles include U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,176, which discloses a jar containing a gel and an object movably suspended within the gel. The gel is a transparent liquid composed of a nontoxic inorganic clay colloidal dispersion in water. In one embodiment disclosed, the jar simulates a fishbowl, with a plastic fish suspended in the gel. A second embodiment includes a gravel base in the bottom of the jar with the gel. While the patent teaches an object suspended in a gel above a gravel base, it is for display purposes only and does not suggest using one or more substances having air freshening properties to support the solid object.
An enclosure with one flat viewing surface in the side is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,728. The enclosure may be made of glass or plastic and contain a figure and a liquid surrounding the figure. The liquid may contain glitter or particles resembling snow flakes. A picture or hologram is applied to the flat surface of the enclosure. Although the display article includes glitter suspended in a liquid, it is also intended solely as a decorative article. The container has only one display face and it is not an air freshener.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,889 teaches a globe holding a flowable solid material and solid objects, such as sand and sea shells, which can be shaken to create new decorative scenes. The solid material and solid objects are inserted through a cap opening which is sealed closed to prevent the flowable solid from spilling out of the globe.
Air fresheners formed from volatile liquids which evaporate naturally are also known in the art. For example, an air freshener sold by Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a botanical object supported between layers of an air freshener gel. The air freshener is formed by pouring one layer of gel in liquid form into a container, placing the botanical object partly in the first layer and then pouring a second layer of the gel in liquid form to fill the container and surround the botanical object. The two layers are the same phase and appear to be one continuous translucent layer.
However, the prior art known to the inventor does not teach an air freshener of substantially the same composition in two phases having display articles supported on one phase and surrounded by the second phase.